544 



Sheep and Cattle Feeding. [dec, 



An experiment in sheep- feeding was conducted by the Edin- 

 burgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture during the 

 winter 1904-05, for the purpose of re-testing 



Experiments t h e resu its obtained in an experiment con- 

 in Sheep and 



Cattle Feeding", ducted during the previous winter. In the 

 first experiment 228, and in the second 

 132 sheep were divided into six lots. The sheep used in both 

 cases were " half-bred " hoggets. The chief object of the 

 experiments was to ascertain the most profitable feeding-stuff 

 to use along with hay and turnips for sheep-feeding. The 

 second experiment has practically confirmed in every respect 

 the results obtained in the first experiment. 



Bombay cotton-cake at £4. 6s. 8d. per ton in the first ex- 

 periment, and at £4 12s. 6d. in the second, proved to be the 

 most profitable feeding-stuff, a striking feature in both years 

 being the quality of the mutton produced by this cake, as, ex- 

 cept in one case, it secured the highest price in the London 

 market. 



Linseed-cake at £y 6s. 8d. and £7 9s. yd. came next to 

 Bombay cotton-cake. This feeding-stuff gave the greatest 

 increase in both years though not at the smallest cost. 



A mixture of equal parts of Bombay cotton-cake and dried 

 distillery grains proved in both years to be a successful feeding- 

 stuff. Nevertheless, the substitution of dried grains at £$ is. 8d. 

 for Bombay cotton-cake in the first experiment, reduced the 

 profit as compared with the Bombay cotton-cake itself. This 

 was also the case in 1905 with dried grains at £$ ys. id. At 

 current prices this popular feeding-stuff seems to be dearer than 

 either Bombay cotton-cake or linseed-cake. 



A mixture of equal parts of decorticated cotton-cake and 

 dried grains gave in both years indifferent results, and took 

 only the fourth place. The monetary difference between this 

 mixture and Bombay cotton-cake amounted to about a pound 

 per acre of turnips consumed. 



In the first experiment a mixture of wheat, cotton-cake, and 

 seed, blended to imitate the composition of linseed-cake, did so 

 badly that it was not continued. In the second experiment 

 Egyptian cotton-cake was used instead. This cake at £$ 4s. yd. 

 per ton was the least profitable of the feeding-stuffs tested in the 



